“The Ontario Liberal Party has obtained leaked documents that show the genesis of Tim Hudak’s radical, 100,000 job cut platform and that it comes from meetings with extreme right, radical factions of the Republican movement,” Hoskins said.

He said Hudak had a “troubling set of meetings” with Republican strategists in the U.S. capital in 2012.

Tories, however, scoffed at the allegations, pointing out that far from being secret, Hudak’s meeting was reported in by the Toronto Star.

Provincial politicians frequently seek media training in the U.S. Prior to the 2003 election, former premier Dalton McGuinty consulted with high-powered Democratic spin doctor David Axelrod in Chicago. Axelrod has served as a key adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama.

In 2003, then integrity commissioner Coulter Osborne raised concerns about some of McGuinty’s expenses. As Opposition leader, he billed more than $20,000 in flights and expenses for Washington and Chicago trips where he met with U.S. political consultants.

McGuinty said that during his trips he met with many think-tanks and policy groups.

He is quoted in a Sun Media story Feb. 1, 2003, saying he also attended meetings with Axelrod and Associates, a political consulting firm that offered “communication training.”

“And I think anything that makes me better at my job, that makes me more effective at holding the government to account, is a legitimate expense,” McGuinty said at the time.